Espresso and Hazelnut Chocolate Cake a la River Cafe

I dont generally cook cakes, but using the River Cafe Cook Book Easy, I assembled the ingredients and produced this ... a beautifull gluten free chocolate cake!



300 g unsalted butter
480 g shelled hazelnuts
4 tbs instant coffee
180 g of chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids
220 g castor sugar
6 organic eggs



Preheat the oven to 160 degrees / gas mark 3
Using extra butter, grease a 25 cm cake tin and line with parchment paper
Roast the hazelnuts in the oven untill they are brown, allow to cool, rub off the skin and grind to a fine powder
Dissolve the instant coffee in 1 tbsp of hot water
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt with the butter and coffee in a bowl over simmering water, cool then fold in the hazelnuts
Seperate the eggs and beat the yolks and sugar in a mixer untill pale and doubled in size
Fold in the chocolate
Beat the egg whites untill stiff, and then carefully fold into the mixture
Pour the mixture into the tin
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes and cool in the tin

This tastes delicious!